Gatlinburg and Doctor Visit #4

Recap - on Friday I left for Gatlinburg with Julie and her brother Tim. Friday was a not-feeling-good day, so I was glad Tim was driving. We got to the cabin laaate - however the huge group in the cabin across from us was still partying it up! haha. We went to bed. The mountains were awesome and the weather was GORGEOUS! We played and played and played. We were originally planning on skiing but it was too warm, which was fine by me so we played countless rounds of darts, pool, Wii Fit, and cards with some football and running thrown in for good measure. Oh and Saturday night we walked down the strip in Gatlinburg and Sunday night we went to Pigeon Forge and played putt putt, go carts, and Tim and Julie did bungee jumping - it was fun to watch. Let's see, we came home (to Julie and Tim's parents' house in Clanton, AL) Monday. We played volleyball at their church Monday night which was SO MUCH FUN! I haven't played volleyball in forever. It was downhill from there...

Monday night my headache came back not long before bed, and just got worse and worse. I moved to the couch at 1 AM b/c I was afraid of keeping Julie up. Took an Imitrex but it didn't help at all. I got pretty much zero sleep (deja vu from last Monday night...blah!). So although I was planning to drive back to Opelika Tuesday morning, that didn't happen. Still felt bad the rest of the day, so I ended up spending the night there again last night. Luckily I did sleep last night. So this morning I drove home for my doctor's appointment at 9:45. I've been there 4x in 4 weeks. This is not my style! I haven't been to the doctor that many times since my freshman year of college when I was perpetually sick (turned out to be wicked "seasonal" allergies - don't they know we don't have seasons in the South? Seasonal allergies last year round!).

So anyway, my doctor said something to the effect of, "I guess I haven't done a very good job of helping you." And I'm like, well it is what it is, but it's got to stop. So he gave me a referral to a neurologist (everyone who was on Team Neurologist is cheering...) which means, they send him my chart notes and MRI results and he looks them over and then his office will call me to schedule an appointment. In the meantime, we're dropping the current meds and switching to Topamax in hopes of preventing the headaches (please work, please please work!) - but it's kind of a slow process, titrating up to the full dosage over 4 weeks. I haven't made 4 weeks on any medication, so we'll see if I make it that long with this one. Oh and he said I could still take the Imitrex if I need it. Well the thing about that is - after the first time I haven't had great results. It takes at least an hour for me to feel any relief, and up to three hours for the full effect. And like Monday night it didn't help at all. AND I can't get it refilled for another 3 weeks b/c that's the way insurance works. One prescription is only 9 pills - I've taken 5 1/2 in a week! We're in trouble...

Oh and I'm calling to get a gynecologist appointment tomorrow (everyone on Team Gynecologist is cheering...) so that they can do blood work and test my hormone levels to see if that's the problem. Is anyone else's Team left out? I'm seriously taking bets on the mystery diagnosis, so let me know your guess if you want to win the prize!

In BigHouse news - we're adding our BigHouse Babies to the after-school program. I say adding - they are DOMINATING the after-school program in numbers! The parents are sooo excited! And we are too. I love all our littles! Oh this is sweet, I have to share: one of the foster moms wrote on my facebook wall this afternoon. She said, "Ryan really missed you yesterday at BigHouse. He wants to be sure that you are feeling better by Thursday so he included you in his prayers last night without any prompting from Nana!!" (Nana is what Ryan, age 3, calls her. He bonded with me when we did music therapy together one morning last fall. Love him!) Oh it made me tear up to read that! It's very discouraging to be sick for so long, and I know that prayer is what is keeping my head above water right now. I'm SO THANKFUL for every prayer you've been praying for me! And when I see Ryan tomorrow I'm going to thank him too!

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16

No Tumors - yay

Called my doctor's office and got my MRI results - they were normal. Which is great! I don't know what the next step as far as tests will be...I'm thinking maybe allergy testing since I tend to get sick (severe headache/nausea/etc) after eating, although sometimes I can eat and be fine, and sometimes I get sick at random times, not after meals.

I also found out that I can't take the Imitrex every day - only for severe headaches (which I tend to get at least one a day...) so I guess I'll have to try to figure out when I want to tough it out and when I want to feel better. Blah. Hopefully the other medicine will build up in my system quickly and help prevent the headaches - that's the idea anyway.

At BigHouse this afternoon the kids are going to be making peanut butter dog biscuits for a dog shelter. One of our high school volunteers (my Johanna) is an officer for FFA at the high school - their group is going on Saturday to the dog shelter, so they'll be taking the treats with them. We want our kids to learn about ways they can help out in the community and "pay-it-forward". They're also making Chex Mix "puppy chow" for snack and will be bagging up the rest to give to the FFA students who are giving up their Saturday to help out at the shelter.

Can we please keep this amazing weather all year? This is my favorite February weather!

The Saga Continues

This is just a quick update. After a long, sleepless night due to my relentless headache, I made another appointment with the doctor - luckily he could see me today. So I went in prepared to demand action, and I think he finally got the picture (3 visits in 13 days) and sent me to get an MRI done on my head, and upped one rx and gave me a new one for Imitrex. I was a little nervous about the MRI but Julie went with me and it only took 15 minutes. The enclosure didn't bother me - I kept my eyes closed and recited lots of Scripture in my head - but the sound made my headache a lot worse. So when we got to Bible study I took half of an Imitrex pill. I felt horrible for probably 30 minutes (I actually have no idea - I was dead) but then I started feeling GREAT. I actually participated in Bible study! Woohoo!

So I don't care what else happens as long as this stuff stops my headaches - I feel POWERFUL again. Nothing is worse than being in unstoppable pain. I should find out the results from the MRI tomorrow or Thursday. My guess is there is an alien in there zapping things with a laser gun.

Alright I'm going to put my clean sheets on my bed and sleep for as many hours as possible.

"Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand." Psalm 20:6

Trying to tackle my to-do list since I'm having a pretty good-feeling day. So far I've been very productive (compared to recent days).

Went back to the doctor yesterday after having a negative reaction to one of the medications I was on. I felt a little bad for calling the doctor on-call during the Super Bowl game, but at least I didn't have to go to the ER! Still no answers about the headaches/nausea/dizziness, and I'm a little frustrated. He wants to try me on two new and completely different meds to see if something will work. We'll see.

I have been so encouraged by my family and friends who are praying for me. Last night Julie took me to Bible study - I wasn't able to go last week and didn't want to miss out again! All I could do was lie on the couch, but I was so glad to be there.

We have been talking with our BigHouse kids about prayer. We want them to know the privilege of having a relationship with Christ and being able to call on a living God who hears us and is faithful to answer. One of my favorite verses about prayer is 1 Chronicles 5:20, "They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to Him during battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in Him."

We put up a large sheet of paper for our Prayer Wall where the kids can write down what they want us to pray with them about. Here are some of their requests:

"My family." "My friends." "I wish I had more best friends than two."

They've also listed names of our volunteers, which I think is so sweet. I love seeing relationships building at BigHouse - kids making friends with other kids, volunteers falling in love with our kids, volunteers finding new friends in other volunteers...and we get to love on them all! God is at work in our relationships at BigHouse - those we are enjoying in our After-School Program, and some we are building as we network with other believers to reach our goal of providing a new swimsuit and beach towel to all 5,783 kids in Alabama foster care this spring!

You can be a part of what God is doing at BigHouse! Visit our website for more information on the swimsuit drive, summer internship, and all of our programs and events. And if you'd like to receive the awesome monthly e-newsletter (yes, that's one of my personal projects), email me and I'll add you to the list (bighousefoundation@hotmail.com).

Well I haven't been keeping up with the blog as well as I would have liked. Oh well. I was hoping that in this post I would be able to say, "For the last month I've been having headaches and nausea every day (and now almost constantly), but I went to the doctor, and VOILA! A diagnosis!" That would have been a great post. But instead of a VOILA ending I have - "Well, he gave me 2 prescriptions for the headaches, but I'm not sure they're working that great, and my nausea and loss of appetite are as bad as ever, and I'd like to have my real life back, please." So sorry this post is anti-climatic.

Here are some verses I've been savoring recently:

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

"And the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1 Peter 5:10

"Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise." Jeremiah 17:14

"About Benjamin he said: 'Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders.'" Deuteronomy 33:12

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! I am so thankful that our God is sovereign, and that He is a good Father, and that He is our healer, and the lifter of my head. Regardless of what is going on with my body, my Daddy is the Creator of the universe and He cares for me! That is so reassuring. Thank you for your prayers. Hopefully soon I'll be able to give you a "VOILA!" update.

Missionaries

I am in love with missionaries, it's true. I want to be one, I want to marry one, I love to hear their stories, I admire their passion, I desire their adventurous lifestyle of faith...on and on. So I was intrigued by the book Revolution in World Missions and since I could get it for free, obviously I requested a copy. I finished it this morning. Not to say that I read it all in one sitting - I've had it for several weeks, but this weekend especially God used it to deal with me about some things that I have ignored in my own life. Here are the major points He taught me this weekend:

Stewardship - it's not just about money, which I know; it's also about talents and resources and influence. And the point of all of these things is to bring glory to God by telling others about Him. If I'm not using what He's blessed me with for that purpose, I'm not being a good steward. I might as well bury it all in the ground (Matthew 25:24-30). One of the biggest things I have stewardship over is BigHouse. God has blessed me by allowing me to come and serve at BigHouse full-time. I prayed and prayed for this opportunity! But He didn't put me here for my benefit alone - I have work to do for His kingdom! We have the awesome privilege of building relationships with children and teens who are, by all practical purposes, the "least of these" in our society. We have the freedom to tell them about Jesus and set an example for them. We have the opportunity to serve their families in order to demonstrate the love of Christ. It's easy for us to get caught up in taking care of the building or planning programs and events or raising awareness for kids in foster care - all of which are important, but secondary to the reason God gave Micah and Blake the vision of BigHouse, which is to share the love of our Savior with those who have not been shown love.

God has reminded me that we need to be intentional with every interaction we have with strangers. We need to prepare our minds for action (1 Peter 1:13), be clear-minded and self-controlled (1 Peter 4:7), make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16, Colossians 4:5), always be prepared to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15), and love each other deeply (1 Peter 4:8).

Pride - this comes up a lot for me. In this book, K.P. Yohannan talks a lot about the wastefulness of the Western Christian world in comparison with the needs of the Two-Thirds World, as well as the inefficiency of sending Western missionaries to Eastern countries when Eastern missionaries can spread the gospel more efficiently. He did not say that there is not a place for Western missionaries in Eastern countries - obviously God has called and continues to call Christians from the United States and elsewhere to the mission field in Asia. Don't worry, there's plenty of work to go around! But I felt very defensive reading his argument for national missionaries (vs sending foreign missionaries). Basically he's saying, "You don't need to come over here, we have our own missionaries, we just need you to give your prayerful and financial support." The thing is, if that is how the Holy Spirit is working in Asia (and it sounds like it's working fine), then yes, we should support it. And instead of getting our pride hurt, we need to reevaluate our work in the mission field God has given us here - in our neighborhoods, cities, states, and across the nation. Obviously we're not doing all that we can here. We need to take the plank out of our own eye and step up to the task that we've been given.

So I want to encourage you to examine your own life - the time, resources, talents, and influence that God has equipped you with, and allow Him to reveal the areas of your life that need to be surrendered to Him, so that you can be useful in the body of Christ.

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: 'He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.'" 2 Corinthians 9:8-9

No-Snow Snow Days

At the risk of being severely unproductive today, I thought I should go ahead and write a new post. Opelika totally missed out on all the snow that seemingly EVERYONE else got. And I'm only slightly jealous. Ok maybe more than slightly. We were very ready to play in the snow. Boo!

At any rate, we haven't started our After-School Program yet since the kids were out of school yesterday and today, so we're planning to start back next Tuesday after MLK Day. That gives us more time to get things ready which is good. Maybe we can even have some progress toward having central by then. That would be GREAT!

For the record, I did not watch the National Championship game last night so that I would not be able to discuss it with anyone. Instead I played Wii Fit with Julie. It was lots of fun.

Today my plan is to go to the Sportsplex to run and do some weight machines. Wii Fit is only good for so much - then you actually have to work out, haha.

Our Bible study starts back tonight - I'm so glad! Without regularly scheduled activities I feel like I've been living a month of Saturdays (I am NOT complaining!). We're in 1 Peter chapter 4. My favorite section is v.7-11:

"The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."